Leaders of the United Kingdom’s major faith groups have called on their MPs to reject a bill that would allow legal assisted suicide.
On Friday, the House of Commons will debate the Assisted Dying (No 2) Bill, put forward by Labour’s Rob Marris.
The bill would allow patients judged as having no more than six months to live, and who had a “clear and settled intention” to end their lives, to be prescribed a lethal dose of drugs.
Two doctors and a family court judge would have to assess the patient’s diagnosis and prognosis, and check that he or she was mentally competent to make a judgment, free of coercion.
The patient would then have to administer the lethal medication themselves, with a healthcare professional present.
In an extraordinary show of unity on Sunday, the heads of Britain’s Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh communities wrote a joint letter to every MP urging them to throw out the assisted dying bill.
The faith leaders, including Cardinal Vincent Nichols, stated their main concern is pastoral.
“The bill has the potential to affect the lives of a great number of people whose circumstances make them vulnerable in different ways,” the faith leaders wrote.
“If passed, it will directly affect not only those who are terminally ill and who wish to end their lives, but also their families and friends and the health professionals who care for them.
“It also has the potential to have a significant impact on other vulnerable individuals: those who believe that they have become burdens to family and carers and feel under pressure within themselves to ‘do the decent thing’ and, tragically, those who might be pressured by others to seek a medically assisted death.”
Already burdened, vulnerable people should not have to bear the added burden of having to consider ending their lives prematurely, the faith leaders wrote.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Archbishop Justin Welby, said Britain would cross “a legal and ethical Rubicon” if the bill becomes law.
Sources
- The Guardian
- The Guardian
- Image: Gov.uk
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